几年时间里学会了四种语言：方法.doc

我在几年时间里学会了讲四种语言：方法如下译者：JamesKyle我在几年时间里学会了讲四种语言：方法如下Lifehacker 的读者 Gabriel Wyner 因为歌剧歌手的职业身份，被要求在过去的几年时间里学习四种语言。在这过程中，他发现了一种“在有限的业余时间中，学习语言的绝佳方式”。下面就是这种您也可以使用的方法（您不需要在 Rosetta Stone 之类的语言课程中投入上太多）。这是我用来学习了四种语言（意大利语、德语、法语和现在的俄语）的方法；用这种方法，我的法语在大约 5 个月的时间里达到了C1 流利程度，现在我正在将这种方法用在俄语学习中（预计在 9 月达到与 C1 相当的流利程度。我的这种方法分为四个阶段。对于不同的语言，这四个阶段所需的时间也会有所不同，同时也取决于你每天在自然情况下的空闲时间。美国外交学院为母语为英语的人士估算了语言难易程度，就相对难度而言似乎是正确的 就我自己来说，俄语花的时间是法语的两倍。他们估算像中文这样的语言所需时间则是俄语的两倍。话虽如此，我们还是假设我们讨论是法语、您每天有 30 到 60 分钟的时间用于法语学习，并且我已经将每个阶段可能需要的时间包括在内。第一阶段：学习语言的正确发音。时间：1-2个星期（对于含有新字母的语言可能需要更长的时间，因为新字母需要一定的时间来适应）从学习发音开始可以实现几种效果 因为我开头学习了语言的发音，所以在开始传统的语言学习之前，我的听力理解就会得到大幅提升。在我开始词汇训练时，我的词汇记忆效果会更好，因为我熟悉单词的发音及其拼写。（例如在法语中，如果拼写和发音之间有联系时，记忆单词的拼写将会更为容易）在我最终开始跟母语人士讲这种语言时，他们不会为我切换到英语或将他们自己的语言幼稚化，这是一种绝佳的调剂。如果您要学习的语言使用完全陌生的字母，那么在这个阶段您要学习这个语言的发音字母（例如日语中的假名，汉语中的拼音）。如何学习发音？学习发音有多种方法，很多优秀的在线和印刷资源也都可用（通常来说，带有 CD 或 Mp3 的发音指南不错）。我个人认为英语的国际音标 (IPA) 值得先花点（较短）时间来学习一下（维基/我一直在制作的一些视频教程 ），然后再寻找目标语言中不同的发音。在学习 IPA 的过程中，您会学到每个元音和辅音的组成部分，之后你就会明白使法语听起来像法语、汉语听起来像汉语的关键因素。第二阶段：词汇和语法学习，不允许使用英语。时间：3 个月左右。这个阶段的时间用在两个方面：制作词汇和语法卡片以及复习这些卡片。这个阶段将利用到一些有用的技巧：首先，我正在使用Anki，这是一款优秀且免费的卡片程序，可以运行在智能手机和所有电脑平台上。Anki 是一款间隔性重复应用，它会根据您成功记忆某张卡片的次数规划卡片的复习时间。最后，该应用可以快速帮您将大量知识化作长期记忆 通常在手机上您一天使用 30 分钟左右的时间可以学习 20 到 30 个新单词。第二，我在使用名德学院著名的语言学习方法语言誓言的改进版 不允许使用英语！我使用图片和已有的有限词汇构建我剩下的词汇。跳过英语后，我可以直接用目标语言练习思考，且不必每次想一个单词时都要翻译。这样做的效果是，学习速度更快、词汇经过一定时间后在记忆里的保留效果较好 以及 过渡到舒服的语言流利程度更迅速。第三，我会使用频率列表来指导我的词汇学习。这些列表中会列出一种给定语言的最常用单词，先学习这些单词可以让时间达到最佳使用效果 学习 1000 个单词后，您可以理解任意一般文本 70% 的内容，学习 2000 个单词后，您可以理解 80%。虽然对于流利而言这还不够，但这样的基础足以惊人！因为我是从零单词开始的，所以我必须做到以下几步。 为了节省时间，我开头使用了 400词的基本清单，这些词都是英语中的常见词并且非常容易画出来 像男和女、猫和狗以及跑步和做饭等等，我发现这样真心不错！将这些单词转换成图片，然后存储在 Anki 中，不使用任何英语 只有单词和图片。 这之后，我找到了一张频率列表，然后将其中可以单用图片描述的单词（基本名词和动词）标记出来，并存储到 Anki 中。在我有了一些可以使用的单词后，我开始将这些单词放到一起。我用谷歌翻译（这是“不用英语”规则的一个例外情况 只要注意 Anki 中没有英语即可）和语法书开始造句，然后将所有句子都到上再检查一遍，最后将这些句子存储到 Anki 中。填写空白的卡片会让你深入钻研语法和联系单词，通常您可以将语法书中的这些内容直接输入到 Anki 中。 随着词汇和语法知识的增加，我终于开始使用单语（法语到法语）辞典以及自己写下更抽象单词的定义（仍然到 上进行再检查）。这是一个相互促进的过程；您学习的词汇和语法越多，您用目标语言可以描述的词汇和语法概念就越多。作为基础，您最终将掌握 2000 单词频率列表中的所有单词，并可以按自己的兴趣添加任何您需要的特定单词。 大多数人的最终目标（例如，在第四阶段结束时）是 2000-6000 个单词，再加上 1000 张语法卡片，具体取决于您要学习的程度（这里我们说的是 Anki 中的单词量，通过阅读您可以掌握更多的主动词汇）。粗略估计，如果最终学习大约 5000 个单词，按每天学习 30 分钟计算，您将需要不到 6 个月的时间学完这些单词（如果每天学习 60 分钟，则时间减半）。第三阶段：听、写、读时间：这个阶段与第二和第四阶段有很大部分的重叠。在适应了读写任何内容后，通常只要在第二阶段花一到两个月的时间，您就可以开始第三阶段。第三和第四阶段，即浸入部分，总共花了我相当疯狂的 7 个星期时间，在这 7 个星期中我将所有空闲时间都花在了阅读、看电视和书写上。在我有了一定的词汇量且对语法有一定了解后，我开始写作文章、看电视节目和阅读书籍以及谈论（至少跟我自己）我看到和做的事情。每次的写作修改都会被添加到我的 Anki 中，我可以这样不断增加我的词汇和语法知识。您应该阅读和观看任何您享受的内容 这比数量更为重要；我是哈里 波特 系列译文的超级粉丝，配音版的电视剧24 小时也极具吸引力，过了最初的几个小时后这些内容并不难理解 您甚至可以花一整天坐在电视前，这样做成效真心高！至于写作，您可以（并且应该）写作您想要写作的内容 日志、观点、今日所做事情、采购清单、任何东西。目标是将一些内容写到页面上，然后将这个页面提交到 ，获得修改，最后将修改的内容输入 Anki。第四阶段：不断地说在我可以或多或少地谈论（有犹豫，但没有太多语法或词汇漏洞）和写作大多数熟悉的事物时，我找到另一个可以浸入语言的方面，即随时随地讲（真心的）。不允许使用英语，否则您不会学到您要学习的技能，这种方法通过快速和自动接触语法或词汇上的漏洞且不必思考这些漏洞来适应这些漏洞。我喜欢名德学院，但如果您没有完整的 7 个星期用来切断与外界联系只讲语言，您仍可以通过在目标国家生活几个星期获得大量知识，只要您坚持使用目标语言、尽量多地说。互联网交换和 Skype 视频聊天绝对可以帮助您练习说，如果您将自己置于外语电视节目和电影中、频繁阅读书籍和与他人视频聊天，您或多或少能自行模仿出浸入体验。您将这种浸入体验做得更紧张，您大脑适应和学习将第一到三阶段学习的内容足够快地转换成舒服、流利话语的速度就越快。关于 Gabriel Wyner：“我是一名歌剧歌手，我的一部分工作涉及到以意大利语、发育、德语、英语和俄语（有时候捷克语、西班牙语、希伯来语和拉丁语）演唱。在多次尝试语言学习失败后，我于 2004 年首次尝试了我的德语浸入方案，并为此着迷。从那以后，我就开始施行这种方法，看自己能否将所有语言都说流利。我已经成功攻克了德语、法语和意大利语，现在我的目标是九月说流利的俄语。我目前居住在奥地利首都维也纳，我在这里一直都在使用我的方法教授英语，并且已经写作完成了一本关于语言学习的书。相关网站为www.TowerofB，该网站对这些观点进行了更为详细的叙述。”I Learned to Speak Four Languages in a Few Years: Heres HowLifehacker reader Gabriel Wyner was tasked with learning four languages in the past few years for his career as an opera singer, and in the process landed on a pretty damn good method for language learning that you can do in limited amounts of spare time. Heres the four-step method that you can use, too (and you dont have to invest hundreds in a language course like Rosetta Stone).This is the method Ive used to learn four languages (Italian, German, French and now Russian); its the method that got me to C1 fluency in French in about 5 months, and Im currently using it with Russian (and plan on reaching C1 equivalent fluency by September).I go in four stages. The stages will take different amounts of time for different languages and depend on how much time you have available per day, naturally. The US Foreign Service Institute makes estimates for language difficulties for native English speakers, and they seem to be spot on in terms of comparative difficultyRussian seems to be taking twice as long as French did for me, and they estimate languages like Chinese to take twice as long as Russian. That being said, lets say were talking about a language like French, and you have 30-60 minutes a day to spend on it, Ive included estimates for how long each stage might take.Stage 1: Learn the correct pronunciation of the language.Time: 1-2 weeks (or longer for languages that have a new alphabet that will take some time to get comfortable with)Starting with pronunciation first does a few thingsbecause Im first and foremost learning how to hear that languages sounds, my listening comprehension gets an immediate boost before I even start traditional language learning. Once I start vocabulary training, I retain it better because Im familiar with how words should sound and how they should be spelled. (Correct spellings in French, for example, are much easier to remember when theres a connection between the spelling and the sound), and once I finally start speaking to native speakers, they dont switch to English for me or dumb down their language, which is awesome sauce.If youre learning a language with a different alphabet, this is where you learn the phonetic alphabet(s) (Kana, for Japanese or Pinyin for Chinese, for example).How do you learn pronunciation?There are a few routes here, and a lot of excellent online and in-print resources (Pronunciation guides with CDs or mp3s are usually very good). Personally, I think its worth the (short) time to learn the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) for the English language first (Wikipedia /some video tutorials Ive been producing), and then see what sounds are different in your target language. In the process of learning IPA, you learn the components of each vowel and consonant and youll really understand what makes a French word sound French, and a Chinese word Chinese.Stage 2: Vocabulary and grammar acquisition, no English allowed.Time: About 3 months. This stage involves two different time commitments: building your vocabulary and grammar flashcards and reviewing the deck.This stage takes advantage of a few valuable tricks:First, Im using Anki, a wonderful, free flashcard program that runs on smartphones and every computer platform. Anki is a spaced repetition system, which schedules reviews of flash cards based upon how often youve successfully remembered a card. In the end, it helps you put a huge number of facts in to your long-term memory very rapidlyyou can typically learn 20-30 new words a day in about 30 minutes on your smartphone.Second, I use a modified version of Middlebury Colleges famous language pledgeNo English allowed! I use pictures and whatever limited vocabulary I have to build the rest of my vocabulary. By skipping the English, Im practicing thinking in the language directly, and not translating every time I try to think of a word. This results in quicker learning and better vocabulary retention over time, and a much faster transition to comfortable fluency in the language.Third, Im using frequency lists to guide my vocabulary acquisition. These lists show the most common words in a given language, and learning those words first will be the best use of your timeafter 1000 words, youll know 70% of the words in any average text, and 2,000 words provides you with 80% text coverage. Its not enough for fluency, but its a pretty phenomenal base!Since Im starting out with zero words, I have to go in a few steps: To save time, I start with a basic list of 400 words that are common in English and extremely easy to picture - things like man and woman, dog and cat, to run and to cook, etc. I find good (!) translations of these and put them in my Anki deck without any English - just the word and its picture. After those, I grab a frequency list and mark off any remaining words I can portray with pictures alone (basic nouns and verbs), and put them in my Anki deck. Once I have some words to play with, I start putting them together. I use Google translate (Exception to no English rule - just be careful theres no English in your Anki deck) and a grammar book to start making sentences, then get everything double-checked at before putting them into my Anki deck. Fill-in-the-blank flashcards let you drill your grammar and connecting words, and you can usually just type these straight into Anki from your grammar book. As vocab and grammar grow, I eventually move to monolingual (French - French, for example) dictionaries and writing my own definitions for more abstract words (again doublechecked at ). This builds on itself; the more vocab and grammar you get, the more vocab and grammar concepts you can describe in the target language. Eventually you can cover all the words in a 2000 word frequency list as a foundation and add any specific vocab you need for your own interests. Most peoples eventual goals (by, say, the end of stage 4) will be 2000-6000 words, plus around 1000 grammar cards, depending on how far you want to go (Here, were talking about words that are in your Anki deck - youll pick up a bigger passive vocabulary from reading). As a very rough estimate, if you end up with 5000 cards, it will take you a bit less than 6 months to learn them with Anki if youre doing 30 minutes a day (half that if you do 60 minutes/day).Stage 3: Listening, writing and reading workTime: This stage overlaps quite a bit with stage 2 and 4. Once youre comfortable reading or writing anything, usually a month or two into stage 2, you can start stage 3. Stages 3 and 4, the immersion part, combined took me about 7 fairly insane weeks where I spent any free time reading, watching TV, and writing.Once I have a decent vocabulary and familiarity with grammar, I start writing essays, watching TV shows and reading books, and talking (at least to myself!) about the stuff I see and do. Every writing correction gets added to the Anki deck, which continues to build my vocab and grammar.You should read and watch anything thats enjoyable to youits more about quantity than anything; Im a big fan of the Harry Potter series in translation, and dubbed versions of the TV series 24 are insanely addictive and not that difficult to follow after the first few hoursyou can literally spend all day in front of the TV, and its actually productive! As for writing, you can (and should) write whatever you wantjournals, opinions, what you did today, your grocery list, anything. The goal is to get something down on a page that you can submit to , get a correction, and put that correction into your Anki deck.Stage 4: SpeechAt the point where I can more or less talk (haltingly, but without too many grammar or vocab holes) and write about most familiar things, I find some place to immerse in the language and speak all the time (literally). No English allowed or else you wont learn the skill youre trying to learn, which is adapting to holes in your grammar or vocabulary by going around them rapidly and automatically without having to think about it). I prefer Middlebury college, but if you dont have 7 solid weeks where you can cut ties to the rest of the world and just speak the language, youll still get a lot from even a couple of weeks in your target country as long a